There was actually a match going on believe it or not, though from the media coverage you'd think it was replaced by rolling footage of some closed tube entrance gates. Good performance I thought given the two rows of 5 the Andorrans were playing. Our centre backs barely needed to break a sweat but we were very solid.

Rooney kept making great space first half, Gerrard was far better than against Ukraine, Lampard kept in nice and simple and Johnson's crossing was outstanding. Fast becoming a vital player for us, that boy. Who'd have thunk it?

Can't decide about old Becks. Worked very hard, spread the ball around very well in a central role I seem to remember him also playing for Madrid briefly and put in a few belting balls. BUT for the most, his corners were dire and his free kicks way off mark. It was the same against Ukraine. The guy is a national institution (as noted by the sheer amount of flashes going off whenever he went near a corner flag) but I wonder if he'll still be playing for us come the finals themselves.

Far better atmosphere last night than the Ukraine game I saw too, even though it was only 2/3's full? Maybe people were determined to enjoy themselves after the relative hassle of getting there, or the players are starting to find their feet. But it felt like we'd turned another small corner. That stadium just desperately needs a 3-2 classic against a decent team and then it'll start to feel more like a venue the country loves.

Also, I got home fine in case you were worried. Tubes were running to and from the ground fine, were a lot less empty than useful and I was in bed half hour earlier than my last trip up that way. The silly woman on Sky Sports News who drove 4 miles to the ground and sat in traffic for 9 hours doesn't have any sympathy from me...

See the Greece game that's so often associated with him and us qualifying for whichever major championship it was. He was superb that game - made up for the other ten on the pitch not looking remotely bothered - but his goal came on the back of five dreadful free kicks that didn't even come close to troubling the keeper/defence. It was just that the sixth one was that quality ball that was needed.

I can see him going to South Africa, but as a member of the squad rather than "first name on the teamsheet regardless of the fact he's got a broken foot" as it's been in the past.

i just think it'd make the club look far far too week. i'd also expect that any deal would be kept secret til the end of the window, so that prices for any replacements don't shoot up.

not sure it'd be good business sense either, ronaldo's proven his worth to the team, plus he's incredibly marketable - in a way that someone like ribery never will be. taking everything into account i think we'd lose more than 80million by selling him.

other rumours are that nani might go back to lisbon on loan, or with joao moutinho coming the other way. i'd like both of them at united to be honest. i think given a run of games nani can be as good as any of the reasonably priced ronaldo replacements (valencia mainly)

Obviously he's a brilliant player, but also, he's a dick! As long as the money's then made available for bringing a couple of players in, I don't think you can argue with it - especially as he refuses to commit to the club, I'd rather he left if his heart's not in it.

Manchester United have given Cristiano Ronaldo permission to speak to Real Madrid after accepting an £80m bid from the Spanish club for the player.

"At Cristiano's request – who has again expressed his desire to leave – and after discussion with the player's representatives, United have agreed to give Real Madrid permission to talk to the player," reads a statement on United's website.

According to the Premier League champions, a deal is expected to be concluded by 30 June.

He'll be desperate to have his own inflated sense of self-worth validated by a club like Real Madrid. I'd quite like to see United sign a striker like Benzema, but at the same time, if two good wing players came in (like those you mentioned), Rooney could go back to playing up front alongside Berbatov.

I just think that Ferguson is keen to get a pacy striker to stretch teams, as Saha was supposed to do / Ronaldo was called on to do in some games (although that seemed to be partly because he's a liability when the opposition has an attacking full-back as he won't provide cover). However, as he's said that he expects Welbeck to be challenging for the England squad next year, I wonder if we're going to be seeing a lot more of him and Macheda? Campbell looks like he's certain to be sold though, which isn't really surprising - I can't think of the last time a real quality striker has been brought up through the youth team?

I wouldn't write them off just yet. But, even though £80 million is a hell of a lot of money, he's sort of irreplaceable for them I think. He practically won the league for them in 07-08 single handedly.

Saying that though, United's downfall has been predicted so many times in the past when players have been sold. I'm sure they'll survive somehow, it might just be a while until they have a truly 'special' player like that again.

if they sign well. although ancelloti's not got a great record in leagues. and acn will play a part.

i think liverpool will be up there, but it depends how they play. this year they only really impressed once united had the league to lose, i think if they keep the attacking style they'll concede far more and drop unexpected points in exciting games, instead of drawing 0-0 with stoke or whatever.

plus i can't see them doing so well against the rest of the big four.

i think it should be a really exciting league though, could be a genuine three of four horse race to the end. la liga's going to be much more competitive too.

a final point is that i think this is the right time to sell. united were just starting to get predictable again, and going for a fourth straight league title means there's no real pressure. it's never been done, so the odds were always against us - ronaldo going doesn't change that.

could never be a four horse race though. I honestly think of arsenal in a similar quality bracket to spurs, everton and city rather than the top 3.

obviously depends on what happens with transfers, but as things stand i'd definitely fancy chelsea and liverpool more than united.

la liga is going to be unbelievable next year - villa, kaka, messi, ronaldo all in the same league. if barca can keep their unbelievable quality of last season, and real live up to potential, it could be the best title race i'll ever see.

beckford = fair enough, he'll be hard to replace. becchio and another decent striker replacement should be more than adequatge then
delph = pretty shocking following the jaunuary transfer window getting to his head. don't think he'll ever live up to his potential, so selling him to an idiot club for a few million would be great business.

Fair enough, I don't really know that much about it - just my housemate is a massive Leeds fan, so every day I just like to wind him up about what I've read on transfer rumour websites.

The Snodgrass one the other day tipped him over the edge, as he's got all these Leeds shirts with 'Delph' or 'Beckford' on the back, and was saying he was going to get 'Snodgrass' on his next one :D :D :D

millwall i think will decline. huddersfield i think could take 6 points off us again, but will drop valuable ones elsewhere, southampton and charlton i can see finishing mid-table, especially the latter.

it should be a good season, anyway. I'm fancying us for 2nd - dropping less than 10 points at home all season, and starting and finishing incredibly well, but having a blip around christmas.

maybe cos it was quite exciting to see all the best players in the world in the same team. but now, there are so many good teams all with great players, its more about the money. perez is a real tool (no pun intended).

"Asked whether Rooney had needed some persuasion to be withdrawn at the interval with a hat-trick a possibility, Capello said: "No. I'd decided and said to him: 'Thank you very much. Now have a good holiday'."

It'll be a shame for 'em but might make 'em a bit more balanced again - once they've spent the money I can see 'em being stronger than before. Obviously I don't think you can directly "replace" a player like Ronaldo but with £80 million you probably buy a quality left-winger, right-winger, striker and central midfielder and create a stronger team.

It's felt in recent years Ferguson's been playing unconventional formations/players out of position to accomodate all the players and I think the team have looked a bit less fluid attacking 'cos of that. I reckon they should switch to a more conventional 4-4-2 with Rooney somewhere between out-and-out striker and the role Gerrard plays for Liverpool and build the rest of the team around him.

And I just looked into this incidentally. You can't tell everything by statistics but Man Utd scored less goals in the Premier League this season than they have in any season since 2004/2005 and the lowest number of goals for any League Champions since 1997/1998. So it's not just my perception.

Put them in their best positions and build the rest of the team with the assumption you're playing those players in that position.

So with United I'd work with the assumption you're best players are Ferdinand and Vidic, who work best in a back two, possibly Evra at left-back and Rooney who plays best centrally with a strike partner.

So then however you set up the team you work from the assumption you're playing 4 at the back Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra and a right back and Rooney and someone else up front, which probably suggests 4-4-2, and then pick the other 7 players from there.

but Man Utd have a bigger squad especially in attacking areas. Look at the teams player for player and there honestly isn't much difference... A.Cole, Bosingwa, Lampard, Essien, Drogba and Cech would all get in the Utd team and that's 6 (more than half).

best right back in the league and it's not even close. He's great going forward and over the last few months has definitely proved he can defend as well, who've Man Utd got? John O'fecking Shea *laughs*

bosingwa is good at going forward.so is rafael.so is sagna.so is glen johnson.
bosingwa can tackle.so can rafael.so can sagna.so can glen johnson.
hasnt bosingwa only been at chelsea for one season?i would say he is a good prospect nothing more

so it's a bit silly saying that. He was already an international and cost £16m so not exactly just a "good prospect". He did mark Messi out of a game at the Camp Nou as well, not exactly an easy thing to do.

just because players do the same job doesn't make them as good as each other. Beckford scores loads of goals in League 1 does that make him as good as Anelka? No. Johnson hasn't even played CL football yet and only time will tell if he's good enough for top level international football. Rafael is almost competely unproven.

you're basically saying that all right backs that are in some way decent are the same quality because they do the same thing wtf? Can't you see why that makes no sense? Yes they can all tackle and run forward but so can right backs that play in League 2, it doesn't make them all of the same ability. I find it hard to believe you can't differentiate between any of these 4 players in terms of ability.

he's only been here for one season and the way Scolari played him didn't exactly make him look great defensively (although he wasn't bad at all). You could make an argument for Sagna and that's the only competition really.

*By defend I meant can he defend to the necessary level? Not, can he defend at all, that's silly*

but he is better IMO. A lot of this is down to personal preference but because I'm a Chelsea fan I doubt that I'm allowed this opinion, just like I'm not allowed to have the opinion that Lampard is better than Gerrard (although this argument is completely redundant now that Gerrard plays behind Torres, thank god).

Don't cry about it and bleat on about not being allowed opinions because of bias, it certainly doesn't stop everyone else on here, including myself. Just state why you think one player is better than the other.

but never wanted to be at West Ham. It's not like he was some complete unknown anyway, I actually thought Mascherano would do better in the Premiership than Tevez when they went to West Ham, it wasn't looking likely to begin with though.

I have nothing against big clubs paying big money for players (how could I really) but throwing money around recklessly and behaving in the way Real do makes them so dislikable, I hope they fall flat on their faces. Barca ftw!

how can you criticise a team that has produced Valdes, Pique, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Bojan etc. they add a few big money signings to the best youth system in world football. I've never seen a side produce so many quality players themselves, it's not the same thing at all. They also try and build a team, they don't just recklessly throw money around hoping it all works out. Everything about Barca is so much more likeable.

£11m, £16m, £16m. Not £80m is it? Not even all 3 put together. If Real actually tried to construct a team instead of just throwing money around maybe I wouldn't be so bothered about the amounts they were spending. Are they going to buy any defenders this time? Probably not. Why do they need Kaka, Ronaldo and Ribery? Especially when they've already got Robben and Sneijder.

They could've got Silva and Villa as a pair for way less than Ronaldo, it would've been a much better deal as well. I'd hate for this method of creating a "team" to work, so that's why I'm hoping it doesn't.

and what they're starting to spend again now. Most of them are pretty standard amounts for quality players in fact, it's more than reasonable to spend £15m on a quality player and like I've said before they produce a lot of their own talent. The two clubs aren't even comparable in terms of spunking money around.

Barca's signings are, generally, thought out and decent investments. Madrid's signings seem to be much more 'flagship' names who have been signed with the express idea of selling shirts rather than achieving success on the pitch. I would absolutely hate to be a Madrid fan.

Yes Ronaldinho and Toure cost a few quid. So did Eto'o, Henry and others. But they've all contributed to rather a lot of Barca success over the last 5 or 6 years. To criticise them for 'spunking cash' is a bit wide of the mark especially what clubs in the Premier League spend in pursuit of 10th place.

As regards pinching players from abroad, the only two I can think of in recent years are Giovani (who looks like he won't be fulifilling his potential) and Messi. Bojan doesn't count as his Dad's been at Barca for decades. Can Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal et al boast the number of local lads coming through their youth set up like Barca can? Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Busquets, Valdes? Thought not.

they can take Danger Dunne off our hands for £20 mill, no probs. He'll certainly fit into their galactico mould, since he's shaped like and weighs as much as a planet.

it'll be a pretty funny year for the Cronaldo hater in me - no World Cup, all his Real goalscoring being undone by the shocking defence behind him. Their new coach is supposed to be a bit of a chump as well. Good times

With liverpool unable to afford a packet of ready salted crisps at the moment fergie should jump at the chance to grab silva a player that would look fantastic in united shirt and not only because he's a rather handsome swarthy bastard.

to be quite honest. Even if Ronaldo wasn't going the Glazer's would probably have found another £50million for Fergie. Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if the red nosed one himself didn't think it was time for Ronaldo to move on. Let's face it, he turned on 5 half arsed petulant performances for every one befitting of a World Player of the Year this season. £80million for him and the opportunity to go and buy 2 or 3 very good players with that money would be hard to turn down. Last summer was different when Ronaldo had pretty much single handedly won United the League and Champions League. He was indispensible 12 months ago, less so now.

Ronaldo's contribution to Man United's League title was negligable. He had much more impact in Europe this year. My point was that just because he's left doesn't mean United are any less likely to win the title than they were this season. They will have £80million in the bank and can go out and sign Ribery or Silva and really not be that much weaker on the pitch!

but his overall contribution was nothing like it was in 2007/8. I agree that Ribery and Silva are far from 'Dunne deals' but United would have the money to pursue either man once the Ronaldo deal is completed. Either would be better than Valencia imho. He looks like a good player but I think is better being a big fish in a small pond. I really can't see him having a massive impact on United.

No matter what happens, as things stand I can't see past Chelsea or Liverpool for the title next season, I think I was just arguing the toss.

And it's not as if Ferguson hasn't lost huge-name players before. Man Utd have always come back from it and I imagine they will again. Especially given the amount of money they'll have to spend as a result...

But I'd still rate Ronaldo higher. He's proven himself in the toughest league in the world over everyone else. Messi looks amazing in Spain but he doesn't look as special against our teams, like Chelsea for example. Ronaldo tears them to shreds.

12 months ago I'd have agreed. I honestly think that Messi has come on such a lot this season and that Ronaldo has acted like too much of a prick. Anyway, like you say, we can argue the toss all day, the fact remains that the 3 best players in the World will be in La Liga next season - Kaka, Ronaldo and Messi.

not surprised in the least by him leaving this season though. Correct me if I'm wrong or it's already been stated above, but as far as I'm aware there are/were three years left on his contract, so this was really United's best chance to sell from a strong negotiating position before he started winding it down. I'd like to think Ferguson has replacements lined up - a winger, a strong holding midfielder and a 20-30 goal per season striker with a bit of pace, please.

It's easily overlooked that Ronaldo was at the club longer than Cantona (not that he had a fraction of Eric's character, obviously). Thanks for the goals and the trophies, but I hope he wins fuck all at Franco FC. We'll miss Ronaldo the player, but not Ronaldo the man. And at least we've all been spared another entire summer of bullshit speculation on the subject.

would see Barca strolling to La Liga again and us winning the CL at the Bernabeu.

I'm surprised at how indifferent I am to Ronaldo's departure today though. He's probably been Ferguson's best bit of business all round - bought for roughly half of what Beckham was sold for, and then sold on for a £68m profit after helping United to numerous trophies.

i'm not suggesting it was BECAUSE of him, or history will repeat itself now or whatever, but still, the years following his departure were some of your worst ever. just keep hearing people saying "we were FINE after beckham left" and applying it to this situation is pretty much a factual fail.